This invention relates generally to a stabilizer arrangement, and more specifically, for motor vehicles axles having wheels with independent wheel suspensions.
In Automobil-Revue. No. 25, June 16, 1983, page 43, a vehicle axle having a stabilizer arrangement known as a space link axle is shown. In this motor vehicle axle, a torsion bar stabilizer is arranged above wheel carriers supporting respective links of wheel suspensions or is positioned between the wheel carriers and the vehicle body. U-shaped legs of the torsion bar stabilizer cross above a camber strut of the respective wheel suspension, and are further movably supported at one of the lower spring links of the wheel suspensions.
In this arrangement, a distance is left on top between the camber strut and torsion bar stabilizer so that these parts do not come in contact with one another in the case of the maximally possible compression movements of the wheel carriers. However, in order to be able to keep this distance as small as possible or keep the projection of the U-shaped legs over the wheel suspension as small as possible, the U-shaped legs cross the camber struts at a large lateral distance from the respective wheel carrier, and thus, cross in an area in which the upper edge of the camber links during their compression movement still covers a relatively short path in the direction of the stabilizer leg.
The U-shaped legs are supported at the lower spring link of the wheel suspensions for achieving an advantageous transmission ratio at the torsion bar stabilizer. This arrangement of the camber struts and torsion bar stabilizer legs for achieving this, however, requires a bending of a free end piece of the torsion bar stabilizer legs in the direction of the wheel carrier. This is so in order to be able to provide the supporting point on the side of a control arm as closely as possible to the wheel carrier.
The lateral distance of the U-shaped legs from the respective adjacent wheel carrier, however, must not be displaced arbitrarily far away from the coupling point of the camber strut on the side of the wheel carrier because a coil spring as well as a shock absorber are supported on the lower spring links, the shock absorber being positioned between the coil spring and the wheel carrier. The torsion bar stabilizer must, therefore, be designed in such a way that the stabilizer legs also do not touch the shock absorbers during the maximum compression of the wheel suspensions.
This requires an arrangement of the stabilizer legs relative to the wheel carriers such that the legs, with their partial leg piece projecting in upward direction beyond the assigned wheel carrier, are located in an area relative to an inner rim flange or to an inner tire wall of the vehicle wheel carried by the wheel carrier, thereby resulting in limiting the tire or the rim width.
It is, therefore, an object of this invention to provide a more compact mutual arrangement of the axle and the torsion bar stabilizer.
It is further an object of this invention to arrange the torsion bar stabilizer in such a way that it is no longer necessary to provide its legs above the camber struts.
It is still another object of this invention to provide a lateral distance of the stabilizer legs from the wheel carriers such that the selection of the wheel or tire width is independent of this distance.
It is still further an object of this invention to provide an improved transmission ratio of the stabilizer irrespective of the wheel or tire width.
The above and other objects are attained by a stabilizer arrangement for motor vehicle axles for wheels having independent wheel suspensions constructed in accordance with preferred embodiments of the invention. The arrangement includes a wheel carrier and a plurality of guiding links for guiding the wheel carrier. A lower spring link and an upper camber strut provide two of the guiding links, whereby an axle shaft is arranged above the carrier link between the two links. The axle shaft, camber strut, and lower spring link extend in a transverse direction of the vehicle. The suspension includes a carrying spring and shock absorber, both arranged on the lower spring link.
A U-shaped torsion bar stabilizer is pivoted at a body portion of the motor vehicle with a bar portion located in transverse direction. The stabilizer includes legs arranged at a higher level than the axle shafts and in an area close to the respective wheels. The legs are connected between the wheel carrier and the shock absorber, with the camber strut and the lower spring link arranged to cross the legs.
A third guiding link or tension strut, is substantially parallel with a partial section of the legs. The legs are further arranged between the camber strut and the axle shaft such that they are adjacent to the same at approximately their level.
The legs of the torsion bar stabilizer, therefore, extend between a camber strut and an axle shaft at a vertical distance to these parts resulting in the integration of the legs into the link arrangement of the wheel suspensions. Thus, in certain preferred embodiments, the stabilizer legs above the camber struts no longer project laterally upwards beyond the wheel carriers, but can be led between the camber struts and the axle shaft close to the corresponding wheel carrier. Thus they are located in an area behind the wheel carrier which is located within the rim of the vehicle wheel where they can be fastened.
The present invention also allows for the selection of a suitable wheel width independent of the torsion bar stabilizer. In addition, the distance between the axle and the vehicle body can be reduced correspondingly.
Because of the relatively large upward distance between the camber strut and the axle shaft, the legs of the torsion bar stabilizer can be moved in a preferred embodiment very close to the wheel carrier, thereby offering the advantage of a significantly improved transmission of the torsion bar stabilizer. This is because of the fact that between the pivotal point of the lower spring links on the side of the body, and the supporting point of the stabilizer legs on the side of the wheel carrier, a correspondingly large distance can be achieved. This distance has the result that during compression movements, a correspondingly large twisting of the torsion bar stabilizer around its longitudinal axis takes place, making it possible, as opposed to the torsion bar stabilizer of the known motor vehicle axle, to achieve a higher stiffness against torsion by using a torsion bar of a reduced diameter. In addition to a better utilization of material, this also makes possible a reduction of the weight of the stabilizer.
In other specially preferred embodiments, the stabilizer legs are connected directly to the wheel carriers, and thus, the elasticities are eliminated which exist in stabilizer arrangements between the wheel carriers and the lower spring links, as well as, between these elements and the stabilizer legs. These elasticities are the cause of the size of a torsion angle or a transmission ratio which is smaller relative to the actually occurring excursion or compression movement of the spring links and the wheel carriers.
Further objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following description when taken with the accompanying drawings which show, for purposes of illustration only, an embodiment in accordance with the present invention.